Elevator-guard.



No. 648,309. Patented Apr. 24, I900. w. w. c. SPENCER.

ELEVATOR GuAnn.

(Application filed July 10, 1899.)

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To all whom it may concerm' jured by being jammed between the elevator above the floor-say two or three inchesa tor, and the guard referred to when the ele- Nrrnn STATES PATENT FEIC ELEVATOR-G UARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,309 dated April 24, 1900.

' Application filed ll'uly 10, 1899.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WV. 0. SPEN- OER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement-in Elevator-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

When a passenger-elevator reaches a landing, the door is often opened to admit passen gers while the attendantis still attempting to bring the elevatorto the exact level of the floor. In such case if the elevator is raised slightly person anxious to get into the elevator can step forward in such a manner that a part of. his foot will overhang the edge of the fioor and come under the elevator. If the attendant, not seeing this, attempts to lower the elevator, the persons foot may be seriouslyinand the floor. This accident hasfrequently happened even with careful elevator attendants and has been of so serious a character as to require amputation.

My-invention is intended to guard against such an accident. For this purpose I provide a guard or riser extending downward from the sill below the floor of the elevator a sufficient distance-say from twelve to eighteen inchesand flush with the front of the sill.

My invention will be understood by the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of portion of an elevator embodying my invention,together with a portion of the surrounding floor, the two being on a level. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the relations of the floor, the elevavator is slightly above the 'fioor and is approaching it. Figs. 3 and 4 show details to be described below.

A is the elevator-floor, and 13 the surrounding floorof the building.

O is the guard referred to, and D is the wall of the elevator-shaft.

As it is often the case that there is some space for clearance between the elevator and the wall D of the elevator-shaft it is often customary, especially in iron elevators, to provide a tread a sufliciently Wide to bridge the space between the elevator-floor and the floor of the building and extending along the Serial No. 723,289. (No model.)

edge of the elevator'as far as the door is wide. I have shown my guard attached to this tread, and it may be made in two forms-one shown in Fig. 3 and the other shown in Fig. 4. In either case 0 is the guard, which in the one case, Fig. 3, is in the same piece with the tread on and in the other case, Fig. 4:, is a separate piece or plate of the full length of the tread and of the required depth-say eighteen inches. In this latter case it is bolted to the tread, and in either case I prefer to provide braces between it and the tread, so that it shall be substantially solid, so as'not to 'yield when struck by a persons foot.

, In operation if the attendant stops the elevator at-any point within, say, eighteen inches above the floor of the building and opens the door it is impossible for the would-be passenger to get his foot under the elevator for the reason that his toe will strike the guard, and as the elevator settles to the level of the floor of the building the guard will simply grind againstthe toe of his shoe.

It is evident that my guard may be applied directly to the floor of the elevator or that portion of it which is opposite the door of the landing instead of being applied to the tread proper, and it may be made of wood or other material it thought best, though I prefer to make it of iron, its peculiarity being that it is a vertical guard which serves as an indication of how far out the elevator will project when it settles into place, and which having a Hat face has no overhanging portion which might catch a persons foot and bend'it downward or break it. Ifapersons foot does not touch it as it descends, the person is absolutely clear from the elevator, as might not be the case if the. guard were angular or beveled outward from below. If a persons foot does touch my guard, it suggests the propriety of his drawing his foot back; but if he does not do so he willmeet with no injury, for the guard being vertical there is no overhanging part to catch and jam his foot. Moreover, when made in one piece with the tread my guard may be easily attached to the elevator.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. An elevator,in combination with a guard, having a flat exposed surface extending vertically downward from the door-sill flush with the outer edge of said sill and at right angles to the floor of the elevator, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In combination, an elevator, tread and guard, said tread-being adapted to be attached to the floor of the elevator upon substantially the level thereof, and said guard being adapted to extend downward vertically therefrom in a plane at substantially right to angles thereto, and when the elevator has descended nearly to a level with the floor of the building, to afiord a flat vertical protectingsurfaoeto any object projecting from the floor surrounding the elevator-well, as set forth.

Intestimon'y whereof I have set my name 15 this 7th day of July, 1899.

WILLIAM W. O. SPENCER. Witnesses: a -GEORGE O. G. COALE,

E. A. GUILD. 

